Dead Dennis Ritchie

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia..../Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

 

 

Turns out that Ritchie's Ph. D. supervisor also died back in August. He was notable for being a target of the Unabomber:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_C._Fischer

 

Seems like the original generation of computer gurus is disappearing rapidly. I guess it started with Jef Raskin's departure back in 2005.

[Magere Hein 1,400]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

Shitshitshit.

 

Together with Brian Kernighan he wrote what are, in programmers' circles, called the Old Testament and the New Testament:

 

 

Turns out that Ritchie's Ph. D. supervisor also died back in August. He was notable for being a target of the Unabomber:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_C._Fischer

 

Seems like the original generation of computer gurus is disappearing rapidly. I guess it started with Jef Raskin's departure back in 2005.

Of course they aren't the original generation of computer gurus, that honour goes to people like Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Grace Hopper and Donald Knuth. Of these the latter is still with us.

 

Fisher, Ritchie, Kernighan and others are effectively part of the second generation of cumputer engineers, who turned computers from lumbering dinosaurs which limited application to modern all-purpose tools. To get an idea what kind of computers they used: C was developed on (and for) a PDP-11:

 

 

That said: yes, they're going fast. Donald Knuth is another one to keep an eye on: at 73 he's getting on a bit, although in good health, AFAIK. He's certain to get the required obits when he dies.

 

regards,

Hein

[time 8,677]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

Shitshitshit.

 

Together with Brian Kernighan he wrote what are, in programmers' circles, called the Old Testament and the New Testament:

 

 

Turns out that Ritchie's Ph. D. supervisor also died back in August. He was notable for being a target of the Unabomber:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_C._Fischer

 

Seems like the original generation of computer gurus is disappearing rapidly. I guess it started with Jef Raskin's departure back in 2005.

Of course they aren't the original generation of computer gurus, that honour goes to people like Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Grace Hopper and Donald Knuth. Of these the latter is still with us.

 

Fisher, Ritchie, Kernighan and others are effectively part of the second generation of cumputer engineers, who turned computers from lumbering dinosaurs which limited application to modern all-purpose tools. To get an idea what kind of computers they used: C was developed on (and for) a PDP-11:

[snip]

 

<picture of PDP-11>

 

[/snip]

That said: yes, they're going fast. Donald Knuth is another one to keep an eye on: at 73 he's getting on a bit, although in good health, AFAIK. He's certain to get the required obits when he dies.

 

regards,

Hein

 

Having (almost) completely forgotten about C, you've triggered some nasty flashbacks. If I remember right, my introduction to C consisted of reading the above book and producing the message 'Hello World'.

 

For anything more exotic, I resorted to Herb Schildt's Complete Reference

still available from Amazon for £22.00; a little less than the £27 I paid nearly 20 years ago!

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

Shitshitshit.

 

Together with Brian Kernighan he wrote what are, in programmers' circles, called the Old Testament and the New Testament:

 

 

Turns out that Ritchie's Ph. D. supervisor also died back in August. He was notable for being a target of the Unabomber:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_C._Fischer

 

Seems like the original generation of computer gurus is disappearing rapidly. I guess it started with Jef Raskin's departure back in 2005.

Of course they aren't the original generation of computer gurus, that honour goes to people like Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Grace Hopper and Donald Knuth. Of these the latter is still with us.

 

Fisher, Ritchie, Kernighan and others are effectively part of the second generation of cumputer engineers, who turned computers from lumbering dinosaurs which limited application to modern all-purpose tools. To get an idea what kind of computers they used: C was developed on (and for) a PDP-11:

 

 

 

That said: yes, they're going fast. Donald Knuth is another one to keep an eye on: at 73 he's getting on a bit, although in good health, AFAIK. He's certain to get the required obits when he dies.

 

regards,

Hein

Yes, you are quite right, old chap. I stand corrected. I have spent many a happy/frustrated hour teaching myself Knuth's TeX/LaTeX.

 

I am anything but a dev. though. Bought a book on C once and tried to teach myself which I found I was completely unable to do. Settled on doing a few little jobs in Python instead - that was about the limit of my coding abilities. Just can't think like a dev, though I spend my working days surrounded by them.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

There is now an obit for Dennis in the Guardian:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/.../dennis-ritchie

 

That seems to be the first mention in the mainstream (as opposed to tech.) media.

 

NOTE: Magere, do you think he deserves his own thread? After all, Steve Jobs has one. Don't know how many other DeathListers would be interested in this death, though, to contribute their wit and wisdom and bad Unix puns to a discussion about his death.

[Guest pedant]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

 

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10...t.with.illness/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie

 

Really sad about this one. He did far, far more for the computer industry than Steve Jobs, IMHO but his passing almost certainly won't get anywhere near the media attention. I wouldn't have the job I hold today if it weren't for his pioneering work co-developing Unix with Ken Thompson. RIP to one of the real fathers of the computer revolution.

 

Not an exaggeration to say that I personally consider this the most significant death of the year thus far due to his impact on computing.

 

Shitshitshit.

 

Together with Brian Kernighan he wrote what are, in programmers' circles, called the Old Testament and the New Testament:

 

 

Turns out that Ritchie's Ph. D. supervisor also died back in August. He was notable for being a target of the Unabomber:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_C._Fischer

 

Seems like the original generation of computer gurus is disappearing rapidly. I guess it started with Jef Raskin's departure back in 2005.

Of course they aren't the original generation of computer gurus, that honour goes to people like Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Grace Hopper and Donald Knuth. Of these the latter is still with us.

 

Fisher, Ritchie, Kernighan and others are effectively part of the second generation of cumputer engineers, who turned computers from lumbering dinosaurs which limited application to modern all-purpose tools. To get an idea what kind of computers they used: C was developed on (and for) a PDP-11:

 

 

 

That said: yes, they're going fast. Donald Knuth is another one to keep an eye on: at 73 he's getting on a bit, although in good health, AFAIK. He's certain to get the required obits when he dies.

 

regards,

Hein

Yes, you are quite right, old chap. I stand corrected. I have spent many a happy/frustrated hour teaching myself Knuth's TeX/LaTeX.

 

I am anything but a dev. though. Bought a book on C once and tried to teach myself which I found I was completely unable to do. Settled on doing a few little jobs in Python instead - that was about the limit of my coding abilities. Just can't think like a dev, though I spend my working days surrounded by them.

Hein the date of your post above makes no sense -what have you been doing? Or where are you?

[Magere Hein 1,400]

Shitshitshit.

[snippage]

[/snippage]

Hein the date of your post above makes no sense -what have you been doing? Or where are you?

When I wrote that bit I was sober, at home and very much in 13 October (in MEST).

 

If you look at my original post (instead of the quoted material) you'll see that there's nothing wrong with it. I suspect that something funny happened when DJL quoted it, perhaps because he did so on 14 October, locally. I'll see and try to find out why.

 

regards,

Hein

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

Shitshitshit.

[snippage]

[/snippage]

Hein the date of your post above makes no sense -what have you been doing? Or where are you?

When I wrote that bit I was sober, at home and very much in 13 October (in MEST).

 

If you look at my original post (instead of the quoted material) you'll see that there's nothing wrong with it. I suspect that something funny happened when DJL quoted it, perhaps because he did so on 14 October, locally. I'll see and try to find out why.

 

regards,

Hein

Yes, I am in Australia so it is the morning of the 14th down here in the World of Tomorrow.

[Magere Hein 1,400]

I have just learned that Dennis Ritchie has passed away:

Shitshitshit.

Having (almost) completely forgotten about C, you've triggered some nasty flashbacks. If I remember right, my introduction to C consisted of reading the above book and producing the message 'Hello World'.

As the Good Book says itself on page 9:

The first program to write is the same for all languages:

Print the words

hello, world

 

This is a big hurdle; to leap over it you have to be able to create the program text somewhere, compile it successfully, load it, run it, and find out where your output went. With these mechanical details mastered, everything else is comparatively easy.

 

For anything more exotic, I resorted to Herb Schildt's Complete Reference[,] still available from Amazon for £22.00; a little less than the £27 I paid nearly 20 years ago!

I have the book somewhere. I used it successfully as a C cookbook, but later it bit me firmly in the arse when I learned through experience that mr Schildt is rather sloppy, a habit I inadvertently adopted. When I started writing MS-DOS device drivers in C, sloppy work nearly killed me, as such drivers are horribly difficult to debug.

 

regards,

Hein

[Magere Hein 1,400]

Magere, do you think he deserves his own thread? After all, Steve Jobs has one. Don't know how many other DeathListers would be interested in this death, though, to contribute their wit and wisdom and bad Unix puns to a discussion about his death.

Done.

 

regards,

Hein

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

Magere, do you think he deserves his own thread? After all, Steve Jobs has one. Don't know how many other DeathListers would be interested in this death, though, to contribute their wit and wisdom and bad Unix puns to a discussion about his death.

Done.

 

regards,

Hein

Much obliged.

 

To commemorate Mr Ritchie's life, I present this page for your reading pleasure:

 

http://arturito.net/2008/03/10/unix-linux-jokes/

[Razor Boy 19]

I have to thank both K & R as I wouldn't have my nice well paid job here by the sea without teaching myself C from their bible.

 

Went like this, my boss is sick for 3 months. I spend the morning doing his job and the afternoon doing what the f*ck I like.(OK learning C). Then he comes back to work, quickly retires and I sod off and swap a job for a career. :+)

 

Thanks Dennis

[Spade_Cooley 9,630]

 

mfw this thread

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

Fedora 16 has been dedicated to Dennis:

 

 

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Release_Notes/sect-Dedication.html

 

Nice touch, guys.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

 

That said: yes, they're going fast. Donald Knuth is another one to keep an eye on: at 73 he's getting on a bit, although in good health, AFAIK. He's certain to get the required obits when he dies.

 

regards,

Hein

 

I just noticed that, according to his Wiki page, the legendary Knuth has had prostate cancer since 2006: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Knuth#Health_concerns

 

"He underwent surgery in December that year and started "a little bit of radiation therapy... as a precaution but the prognosis looks pretty good" though".

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

High-profile Linux developer Seth Vidal has been killed in a hit and run whilst out cycling: http://www.wral.com/...d-run/12639104/

 

 

RIP Seth.

 

UPDATE - some more links:

 

http://www.jonobacon.org/2013/07/09/remembering-seth-vidal/

http://durham.io/2013/07/09/seth-vidal-creator-of-yum-open-source-software-killed-in-bike-accident-off-hillandale-rd/

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

This was the big news at my workplace when I came back this morning. Ian Murdock (of Debian) has passed away:

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/31/ian-murdock-a-tribute-to-the-man-and-his-work-on-linux

 

 

[Magere Hein 1,400]

This was the big news at my workplace when I came back this morning. Ian Murdock (of Debian) has passed away:

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/31/ian-murdock-a-tribute-to-the-man-and-his-work-on-linux

 

 

 

indeed. I've had my dirty fingers on dozens of boxes running Debian. This forum may well run on one.

 

ETA: A bit of delving with my Super Admin Powers taught me that the forum host runs CloudLinux, a Linux I don't know the family history of.

More ETA: According to Wikipedia CloudLinux has its ancestry in Red Hat, so this forum doesn´t run on Debian.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Magere Hein
No Debian.

[gcreptile 11,074]

Peter Naur, the N of the BNF notation has also died, at 87:

 

http://www.computerworld.dk/art/235905/den-verdensberoemte-it-dansker-peter-naur-er-doed(danish link)

 

So who is going to be the third one?

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

"This account has been deactivated..." Email inventor Ray Tomlinson dies at 74:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-07/email-inventor-ray-tomlinson-dies-aged-74/7225748

[YoungWillz 21,208]

I was going to make a comment about a Nigerian prince email scam, but when I googled images for it, I got this and got completely sidetracked....for about half an hour...

 

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,325]

Xerox Alto creator Charles P. Thacker has died:

 

https://cacm.acm.org/news/218536-in-memoriam-charles-p-chuck-thacker-1943-2017/fulltext